The matter in summary Employees in kindergartens can spend up to two hours a day on their mobile to document the children’s activities via apps. Everything from meals, sleep, visits to the toilet to outings is logged and shared with the parents. This has led to increased demands and pressure on nursery staff, and reduced everyday communication with parents. Some employees believe that digitization has made operations more efficient, but there is concern that this is at the expense of time with the children. Experts warn that the quality and time staff have for conversations with children, especially during meals, is under pressure. A discussion is encouraged about what is documented in the nursery and why. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAI. The content is quality assured by news’s journalists before publication. – I love working with people, both the young and the old, says Kristina Berger. news meets her and her colleague Kim Clarisse Bobadilla in her office at Espira Grefsen kindergarten. The office is tidy and the noise level is low, a sharp contrast to the lively and energetic everyday life outside. For over 20 years, Berger has been part of the nursery world, and for 16 years she has held the role of chairman. But everyday life is not what it once was, admits Berger. – The requirements have certainly increased. Bobadilla and Berger go through the app they use in the kindergarten. Photo: Emilie Lykke / news A sea of documentation Many kindergartens in the country use apps to log the day. Several kindergarten employees whom news has been in contact with tell of a constant battle against the clock to meet all the requirements for documentation. Everything from counting the children and dobe visits to meals and sleep is recorded and shared with the parents on an ongoing basis. – There is an endless sea of documentation requirements, and that part is on a completely different level than before, says Berger. Kristina Berger, chairman of Espira Grefsen kindergarten, says that the digital development has been difficult for employees. Photo: Emilie Lykke / news Outings and activities are also logged in the form of pictures that parents can like and comment on. – The parents are obviously concerned with how the child is doing in the nursery. They would probably have even more than what we are able to deliver. The everyday chatter with parents has also decreased, says Berger. – Before, we had more to tell the parents, because then they couldn’t follow what the child was doing. Berger presents the weekly report, which contains a summary of the week with pictures. This is in addition to daily updates. Photo: Emilie Lykke / news But who actually sets these requirements? According to Berger, it is twofold. – The requirements are set by the authorities, where it is clearly laid down in the framework plan what the nurseries must document. – Parents also have a right to access this. news met some parents who were going to pick them up from the kindergarten. Here are their thoughts on the apps: Roy Pettersen Hallvor Johansen – The app we have is perfectly fine, but I hear from others that there is a lot of unnecessary information. He thinks it’s nice to get information on whether his son has slept. – But nappy changes are an example of completely unnecessary information, I think. The son has a right to privacy, Johansen believes. – It must also take an inordinate amount of time for the employees, which they could rather spend on the children. Emilie Lykke Anne Sandnes Like Johansen, Sandnes says that she feels the arrangement works well in their nursery. – They only keep a log of how much they sleep. Otherwise, everything is written on paper. At the same time, she has also heard of parents who complain about a lot of unnecessary information. – Some employees say that they can spend up to two hours updating these apps. What do you think about that? – I think that is completely unnecessary. Roy Pettersen Christian BjerkeBjerke thinks the apps are useful. – Now we only have one child, so there is only one nursery to deal with. But it works very well. Nevertheless, he understands that employees can feel that the apps steal time. – Unfortunately, I think that when you work with children and parents you will always spend a lot of time coordinating. – Hopefully these apps will save the employees job, concludes the father of small children. At the bottom of the case, you can read Udir’s guidelines for documentation. Can spend up to two hours on the mobile phone Bobadilla is educational manager for the toddler department in the nursery school. She herself is positive about digitalisation, both as a mother of young children and a nursery school employee. But she acknowledges that not everyone has experienced the development in the same way. – We have come across that employees feel it takes a lot of time, says Bobadilla and adds: – But that could be because you haven’t had the opportunity to set aside time for it. Pedagogical manager at the kindergarten, Kim Clarisse Bobadilla, does not feel that mobile phones take away time from the children. Photo: Emilie Lykke / news – How much time do you think you spend on your mobile phone during a week? – With all that documentation, i.e. the pictures we take, everything we register, and messages we send out, it took up to two hours. – This week? – It can be in one day, but it is difficult to determine exactly how much time is spent. It can vary from week to week. A known problem Anita Holm Cirotzki, central board member of the Education Association, says that the problem is not unknown. – Various forms of documentation or registration, which have nothing to do with the educational work, have increased. She believes the situation is a result of changes in how the nurseries are organized and higher expectations from parents. – It has gradually become quite extensive in many kindergartens. – And thus perhaps contributed to creating an expectation that can be difficult to follow up, without it being at the expense of time together with the children’s group. Central board member of the Education Association, Anita Holm Cirotzki, believes that the kindergartens must hold internal discussions about what is necessary to log. Photo: Uddanningsforbundet – We live in a digital world Despite increased demands, Berger and Bobadilla believe that digitization has also helped to make operations more efficient. – Digitization has helped to cut several links, says Berger. Bobadilla believes that it is also important to properly organize everyday working life. – During bedtime, the children lie down and sleep. Then we like to have one or two sleeping guards in the bedroom. – And then you can carry out, for example, nappy registration, or answering the parents. Higher requirements for documentation lead to more mobile time for employees in the nursery. Photo: Emilie Lykke / news Advantages and disadvantages Tove Lafton, professor of pedagogy at Oslo Met, has been researching digital technology in kindergartens for several years. Professor of pedagogy at Oslo Met, Tove Lafton. Photo: Privat She believes that although apps can have advantages, there are also challenges. – I am not aware of any research that shows that children in Norwegian kindergartens do not get a new nappy or food when they need it. – But larger surveys show that the quality and time the staff have for conversations with individual children, for example during meals, is under pressure. The question then is what this type of app will contribute to the sector, asks Lafton. – Perhaps it is time to discuss what we document in the nursery and why. This is the framework plan from Udir Documentation of the staff’s work makes visible how the staff work to meet the requirements of the Kindergarten Act and the framework plan. Documentation of the educational work must be included in the kindergarten’s work to plan, assess and develop the educational activities. Documentation of the educational work can provide parents, the local environment and the municipality as the nursery authority with information about what children experience, learn and do in the nursery, and about how the nursery fulfills the requirements of the Nursery Act and the framework plan. Assessments of the group’s and individual children’s well-being and all-round development must be documented when necessary to provide the group of children and individual children with a tailored offer. It can provide a basis for adapting and further developing the educational work. Children have the right to protection of their personal integrity. An ethical perspective must therefore be the basis for documentation of the group of children and individual children. Personal data must be processed in accordance with the Personal Data Act. The processing of personal data means all collection, registration, compilation, storage and disclosure of information and assessments that can be linked to an individual. If the nursery is to hand over personal information about the child to other bodies and there is no legal authority, the parents must consent to this. The requirement for consent from the parents does not apply, for example, in cases where the staff share personal data with the child protection service in order to fulfill the obligation to provide information in Section 46 of the Kindergartens Act. Parents have the right to see and be provided with documentation about their own children, and to have information deleted or corrected incorrect or misleading. Source: Udir.no Hi! Do you have any thoughts on the matter, or tips for something else I should look into? Published 09.12.2024, at 05.56
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